https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/mars/RSS feed for MarsenMon, 19 Oct 2026 19:41:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-dont-know-how-mars-acquired-its-two-moons-japan-just-launched-a-historic-space-mission-that-will-fetch-samples-to-find-out-180989713/The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's spacecraft is expected to reach the Martian system in August 2027 and return samples from the moon Phobos to Earth in 2031Mon, 19 Oct 2026 19:41:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-dont-know-how-mars-acquired-its-two-moons-japan-just-launched-a-historic-space-mission-that-will-fetch-samples-to-find-out-180989713/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-detailed-martian-rover-photograph-highlights-mysterious-cliffs-on-the-edge-of-one-of-mars-mountains-180989675/These crags don't match the rest of the mountain, and scientists don't know how they formedThu, 15 Oct 2026 16:50:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-detailed-martian-rover-photograph-highlights-mysterious-cliffs-on-the-edge-of-one-of-mars-mountains-180989675/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mars-southern-half-is-weirdly-warm-underground-the-thermal-anomaly-might-explain-why-the-planets-hemispheres-look-so-different-180989424/Researchers used a novel technique to figure out what's going on inside the Red Planet. The work suggests that the interior of the southern hemisphere is hundreds of degrees hotter than that of the northern hemisphere and partially moltenTue, 01 Sep 2026 15:47:38 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mars-southern-half-is-weirdly-warm-underground-the-thermal-anomaly-might-explain-why-the-planets-hemispheres-look-so-different-180989424/